DAYS RUMOR: Has Thaao Penghlis Been Fired?

For days now RUMORS have been circulating about yet another veteran actor being canned from Days of Our Lives. Well, we just received a tip that the vet in question is Thaao Penghlis, who has played the dual roles of Tony and Andre DiMera on and off for well over two decades. According to the tip, the source of the rumor is the anonymous blogger the Diva of Days of Our Lives. We are running this as strictly a RUMOR at this point, since we couldn’t get confirmation from any of our sources.

Now I can’t be a hypocrite here, when it was announced that Days had to cut veteran salaries to stay on the air, the first people I thought of were Penghlis and his leading lady Leanne Hunley (Anna). I adore the pairing, and have since I was a little kid, but getting rid of Tony and Anna or even Patch and Kayla (Stephen Nichols and Mary Beth Evans), who I also love, always made more sense to me than axing John and Marlena, but with Drake Hogestyn and Deidre Hall already gone, wouldn’t you think the brass would want to utilize the vets they have left?

I’m not suprised, but it is still sad because the veteran cull continues. Tony still has a lot of unexplored potential and to not do so is a missed opportunity, but seeing as Dena is head writer its better for Tony to leave the canvas before he is destroyed even more.

Thaao Penghlis is a very talented actor and I hope to see him on another soap that will actually write for him.

Not surprising.
You would think that with Patch, Kayla, Doug, Julie, Bo, Hope, Kate, Roman, Caroline, Victor, Maggie, Stefano, Abe, & Lexie still on the canvas, there would be enough good sorylines to fill the void of John & Marlena being gone. Idiots.

Jamey, I appreciate your honesty about when you first were saying Thaao should be one of the cuts. I recall we had a bit of a debate about that. Sad to say, it looks like it is not either Drake/Deidre or Thaao/Leann, but all four of them…so we both lost out.

I said as soon as Thaao got an Emmy nom last year that DAYS would reward him by firing him, and I was proved to be right. Any soap producer in his right mind would have given Thaao a front-burner story after that, taken the acclaim and used it. But as usual, Corday proves that idiocy, unlike genius, has no limits.

Also, honestly, the Dimera Vendetta story had its problems…but wasn’t it better than the crap we’re watching now? Why did Corday illegally fire Hogan Sheffer during the strike just to replace him with Dena Higley (who is giving James E. Reilly, may he rest in peace, a run for his money in dull rehash and sloppy writing)? And why was Ed Scott replaced with Tomlin, who obviously doesn’t care about the quality of the show?

Also, keep in mind that another vet is Tony/Andre’s murderer and may be taken off the show as well. The bloodbath is far from over.

I don’t think DAYS will survive these decisions, and right now, I’m too mad to care.

• Ratings stunt alert: The Suds Report has exclusively learned from high-level DAYS producers that one half of the Anna-Tony super-couple pairing will die in a major murder mystery in March. The Suds Report can confirm that Thaao Penghlis (Tony) has been fired. So where does that leave Leann Hunley (Anna)?

You know they’ll kill Tony and have Anna snowed in at the airport in Switzerland unable to come to the funeral and they’ll never mention her again. And if they’re having a vet kill him, it’ll probably Stefano so that they can get rid of Joe too while they’re at it. So the vets we’ll probably be left with are Steve never on screen, Kayla playing doctor once in a while, bringing out Maggie to pimp Melanie and the stupidity that is psychic Bo with a few sightings of Hope – oh joy. Everytime I think this show can’t suck anymore, it just tops itself.

Not surprised by this. Poor Thaao has come and gone from the show several time before. Stephano probably will be next. With John and Marlena gone, Stephano has no story. He has come and gone several times also. This will leave EJ as the Dimera big bad. Which is where they were a few year ago. I recall reading that was the plan at the time they introduced EJ, he would replace Stephano as a younger villian, although I can’t recall who said it, ex. producter, head writer or who. They fire these vets to save money, then wind up re-hiring them to get a ratings bump. Deja vu all over again. Never learn.

Also, honestly, the Dimera Vendetta story had its problems…but wasn’t it better than the crap we’re watching now? Why did Corday illegally fire Hogan Sheffer during the strike just to replace him with Dena Higley (who is giving James E. Reilly, may he rest in peace, a run for his money in dull rehash and sloppy writing)? And why was Ed Scott replaced with Tomlin, who obviously doesn’t care about the quality of the show?

No. Nothing will ever be worse then the Vendetta storyline. Ignoring legal issues for the moment, I really support Corday’s decision to fire the entire writing team. The show just wasn’t working.

I hope this rumour is true and he can take Leann Hunley and Mary Beth Evans with him. That may sound a bit harsh, but Days can’t afford to keep them around when they do nothing.

Obviously, Ryan, you’re entitled to your opinion. Hogan Sheffer’s really crying about it while he’s writing all of these great stories for Y&R now, the top-rated soap, thanks to Corday’s brilliant decision. I didn’t always like Sheffer’s writing, but at least he wasn’t trying to turn DAYS into PASSIONS LITE.

By all means, let’s fire Thaao, Deidre, Drake, Leann and Mary Beth. Why write for experienced vets with good acting and great chemistry when we can write sloppy shallow stories for characters the likes of Chloe and Dan…who have as much romance as alley cats going at in a backyard? Why watch Emmy-caliber actors when we can watch Molly Burnette whine and all the PASSIONS rejects strut around with their shirts off?

I don’t buy the economy excuse either. The actors were taking pay-cuts. They could fire dozens of their cheap actors if it would keep some of the real actors on the show.

Obviously, Ryan, you’re entitled to your opinion. Hogan Sheffer’s really crying about it while he’s writing all of these great stories for Y&R now, the top-rated soap, thanks to Corday’s brilliant decision. I didn’t always like Sheffer’s writing, but at least he wasn’t trying to turn DAYS into PASSIONS LITE.
By all means, let’s fire Thaao, Deidre, Drake, Leann and Mary Beth. Why write for experienced vets with good acting and great chemistry when we can write sloppy shallow stories for characters the likes of Chloe and Dan…who have as much romance as alley cats going at in a backyard? Why watch Emmy-caliber actors when we can watch Molly Burnette whine and all the PASSIONS rejects strut around with their shirts off?
I don’t buy the economy excuse either. The actors were taking pay-cuts. They could fire dozens of their cheap actors if it would keep some of the real actors on the show.

Good for him. It’s a win-win situation.

I like vets too and I don’t like the idea of Days without John or Marlena, but Days has some vets that aren’t needed. The show gained so many new viewers in the ’90s, so I really don’t think it made sense to bring back ’80s supercouples and expect the audience to lap them up. Send them back and just focus on Bo, Hope, Abe, Lexie, etc. I doubt ratings would drop.

Ryan, I hardly see DAYS’ ass on the chopping block for cancellation as a win-win situation.

If the show was doing so darned well in the 90s, there would have been no need to bring back 80s supercouples like…um, John and Marlena. Thaao was on for serveral years in the 90s, so I’m not sure he qualifies for that either. As for SN/MBE, all I know is that DAYS kept asking for them back over and over and over for years. Once they finally agreed, they were backburned and now are in danger of getting fired. I don’t think any of the vets are “not needed”. Give me a scene with Drake, Stephen and Thaao with no props and cheap clothes…and I’d watch that any day over the PASSIONS studs.

I mean Hogan Sheffer going to Y&R is a win-win. He’s on a “better” show and Days no longer has a HW that doesn’t understand the show.

John and Marlena were a supercouple in the ’90s. Thaao has been a big part of the show (including the ’90s), but Tony/Andre in a joke. I do believe that there are some vets that should go. Ideally, the money saved would be spent on a better selection of characters. Mike, Vivian, Kristen, etc would help the show much more. I know that won’t happen, but still, there are some actors on the show (that I assume are costly) that could really go.

I don’t include John and Marlena in this BTW. They should not have been fired.

Ryan, if you think Higley understands the show better than Sheffer did, we’re just in disagreement about that. Higley (or Tomlin, the new producer — take your pick) is not even attempting to understand DAYS. She is just rewriting into a brand new soap all together…and one that sucks at that. Sorry, this is far from a winning situation for DAYS.

I don’t see how Tony/Andre is any more of a joke than RoJohn Brady/Forrest Alamain/Father John/(forget the name of his latest identity) Dimera. Both the characters of Tony and John have been convoluted beyond reason, but the actors managed to rise above the material. As a reward for that, they were fired.

But I also acknowledge that there’s room for more vet couples on the show than one…and there’s room to keep the vets they have with paycuts if they’d just trim the fat by firing all the cheap young actors they’ve hired over the last few years. Sounds like I want the 80s back; you want the 90s back. And we’re both losing out. Cause this day and age is PASSIONS LITE…until DAYS tanks.

Ryan, if you think Higley understands the show better than Sheffer did, we’re just in disagreement about that. Higley (or Tomlin, the new producer — take your pick) is not even attempting to understand DAYS. She is just rewriting into a brand new soap all together…and one that sucks at that. Sorry, this is far from a winning situation for DAYS.
I don’t see how Tony/Andre is any more of a joke than RoJohn Brady/Forrest Alamain/Father John/(forget the name of his latest identity) Dimera. Both the characters of Tony and John have been convoluted beyond reason, but the actors managed to rise above the material. As a reward for that, they were fired.
But I also acknowledge that there’s room for more vet couples on the show than one…and there’s room to keep the vets they have with paycuts if they’d just trim the fat by firing all the cheap young actors they’ve hired over the last few years. Sounds like I want the 80s back; you want the 90s back. And we’re both losing out. Cause this day and age is PASSIONS LITE…until DAYS tanks.

I do want the ’90s back. I don’t love what DH is doing and do agree that she has dismantled the show (however that had already began before she came back), however she is rebuilding her soap. You may not like that way she is doing it, but Days is becoming a strong show again.

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